Welcome to the 45th issue of Telecom News & Trends (TNT), JSA‘s newsletter featuring the latest telecom news, videos, industry events, resources, career opportunities and trends happening now in our industry. We have put together our top headlines we kicked-off 2016 with here at JSA. Thank you for an exciting start to what is looking like a wonderful year in telecom. This month’s TNT is sponsored by: LightRiver.

LightRiver Technologies designs, engineers, commissions and supports next generation solutions for mission-critical clients that require the highest capacity, reliability and resiliency that today’s optical communications technology can deliver. A leader in multi-vendor, Factory Built NetworkTM integration, LightRiver is an expert in Tier 1 Packet Optical, DWDM/ROADM, MPLS and Carrier Ethernet systems, and in successfully migrating legacy networks to the next generation. LightRiver delivers unique value across the United States with turnkey solutions, carrier-grade quality and unparalleled customer care in multi-technology networking.

Headlines:

SUPER BOWL 50 GOES HIGH-TECH – Super Bowl Sunday has evolved into an unofficial American holiday. It’s filled with football, over the top commercials and enough buffalo wings to feed an army. However, the buzz around this year’s Super Bowl wass slightly different. Super Bowl 50 was hailed as the “techiest” of all time. Read more.

FIRSTLIGHT FIBER ADDS A WHOPPING 36,000 FIBER MILES INTO NEW YORK – FirstLight Fiberhas extended its dense fiber network further in New York. This expansion project added 36,000 fiber miles into New York’s Westchester, Rockland and Orange counties, and was constructed in direct response to market and customer demand to expand its offerings closer to New York City. Read more.

COMMENTARY MAGAZINE READERS DON’T MISS A BEAT THANKS TO NYI – Magazine subscribers want their news and they want access to it around the clock. Thankfully for Commentary Magazine’s subscribers and over 500,000 monthly website visitors, NYI-managed hosting and Fault Tolerant Web (FTW) guarantee that the news they want access to is available 24/7/365. NYI’s services have ensured 100% uptime for the publishing company, which had been experiencing service degradation and unacceptable downtime with previous hosting providers. Read more.

NEW EDUCATION EXCHANGE PARTNERS FOR NGN – North Georgia Networks (NGN) announces four new Education Exchange partners. For those of you unfamiliar with the Education Exchange, it is Gerogia’s only regional 10-gigabit private cloud for exclusive use by school systems. Now that you’re all caught up, let’s dive into the new strategic partner additions! Read more.

WESTELL KICKS OFF 2016 WITH KEY EXECUTIVE APPOINTMENTS – Westell Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: WSTL), a provider of in-building wireless, intelligent site management, cell site optimization, and outside plant solutions, announces that Rick Good has been appointed to Senior Vice President, In-Building Wireless (IBW). The company has also hired Oscar Hernandez as Senior Vice President, Engineering and Outside Plant. Read more.

LIGHTRIVER TECHNOLOGIES LAUNCHES NEW AND IMPROVED WEBSITE – A company’s website is its front door, its billboard and its window to the world. It must be easy to navigate, pretty to look at and informative for repeat visitors and newcomers alike. After much planning and a lot of hard work, LightRiver Technologies, Inc. a leader in Factory Built NetworkTMdesign and commissioning, is pleased to announces the launch of its upgraded website at www.lightriver.com. Read more.

RCN BUSINESS ADDS NETWORK MAPS TO NEF’S FIBERLOCATOR® APPLICATION – RCN Business just made its network easier to find. The communications provider delivering network solutions for voice, data and video, announces that it has partnered with NEF, Inc.to display its network within NEF’s FiberLocator® database. Read more.

HIBERNIA EXPRESS ADDS INNOVATIVE BACKHAUL TECHNOLOGY – Hibernia Networks is pushing the boundaries of low latency again! The company has acquired alternative backhaul infrastructure to further reduce the latency on Hibernia Express, enabling a connection between North America and the United Kingdom of 44.92ms (RFCS tested). Previously, the latency of the 4,600km ultra low latency submarine cable route clocked in at 58.95ms from New York to London. Read more.

RCN BUSINESS ESTABLISHES POINT OF PRESENCE AT 401 NORTH BROAD STREET – RCN Business is kicking off 2016 with a bang. The company announces the expansion into Telehouse’s data center located at 85 10th Avenue in New York City. To-date, the communications provider delivering network solutions for voice, data and video released news that it has established a point of presence (PoP) at Netrality Properties’ 401 North Broad Street Meet-Me Room (MMR) in Philadelphia, PA. This new connection at 401 North Broad will give RCN Business’ customers multiple options within the region’s top network-neutral interconnection facility. Read more.

XKL BEGINS TESTING OF ITS INNOVATIVE, 100GE COHERENT PRODUCT LINE, EVOLOCITY – XKL, leading provider of fiber optic networking systems, announces it is conducting a series of private demonstrations for its new 100GE coherent product line, eVolocity, slated for public release later this year. The eVolocity products have 480G of capacity per 1RU system and serve as a “bandwidth on demand” solution for added scalability and flexibility. Read more.

DOWNTOWN ON THE RISE: NYI AND LOWER MANHATTAN HQ JOIN FORCES – Lower Manhattan is not just the capital of finance anymore. It is evolving into an innovative community of cutting-edge companies and a world-class destination for business. NYI, a resident of downtown Manhattan for 20 years, and Lower Manhattan HQ (LMHQ), a new collaboration space for Lower Manhattan’s creators and creatives, are teaming up to form a powerful alliance. Read more.

RCN BUSINESS EXPANDS INTO TELEHOUSE NYC DATA CENTER – RCN Business continues to expand its services and capabilities throughout its footprint. The communications provider delivering network solutions for voice, data and video announces today that it has expanded its network into Telehouse’s data center located at 85 10th Avenue in New York City. Read more.

WESTELL’S NEW CARRIER APPROVED TOWER MOUNTED AMPLIFIER (TMA) CHANGES THE GAME – Westell’s new B90 TMA is a first-of-a-kind solution that reinjects the radio frequency (RF) signal protocol known as AISG (Antenna Interface Standards Group) from the RF base station into the antenna port of the TMA, thus allowing it to be received by both the TMA and the antenna. This feature allows the customer to save on installation time and costs, while improving reliability. Read more.

Videos:

“The Big Growth Companies of 2015 and Predictions for 2016″Roundtable – Moderated by Robert Powell, Founder & Chief Editor at Telecom Ramblings, celebrates companies who have had a stellar 2015 through business and network expansion. The Roundtable also provides executive insight on what’s in store for the new year. This blockbuster roundtable featured Frank Rey, Dir. Global Network Acquisition Group of Microsoft; Rick Calder, President & CEO of GTT and Bjarni Thorvardarson, CEO of Hibernia Networks. Watch Now.

LightRiver Update and 2016 Optical Networking Trend Predictions – Mike Jonas, President of Sales and Marketing for LightRiver Technologies, talks 2015 highlights and future plans for LightRiver, plus overall 2016 industry trends, including the move to 100G, the migration from TDM to packet and software automation. LightRiver Technologies designs, engineers and commissions next generation solutions for mission-critical clients that require the highest capacity, reliability and resiliency that today’s communications technology can deliver. A leader in integrating multi-vendor, Factory Built, Next Generation Transport Networks, LightRiver is expert in Packet Optical Transport, DWDM/ROADM, MPLS and Carrier Ethernet, and in successfully migrating legacy networks to the next generation. Watch now.

North Georgia Network (NGN) Sits Down with JSA TV to Chat about Polycom Video Conferencing– Hilliard A. Willbanks Middle School’s Principal, Marybeth Thomas, sits down with JSA’s Dean Perrine to chat about how her school utilizes the Polycom video conferencing unit provided in part by the North Georgia Network (NGN) and the Education Exchange. NGN’s powerful fiber optic network and the Polycom unit have introduced new learning opportunities to enhance curriculum at the Georgia school – from virtual field trips to dual enrollment programs and teacher training sessions. Watch now.

JSA TV Interview with Chad Lamb of XKL – Chad Lamb is the Director of Engineering of XKL and takes time to discuss the XKL’s product design process with JSA TV. He also talks about the advantages XKL brings to the table versus other optical networking equipment providers and how their products have evolved with the rise of cloud and virtualization. Before signing off, Chad shares what he sees as the optical networking trends in 2016 and beyond. Watch now.

Events:

Telecom Exchange NYC – Have you heard the #TEXcited news? Telecom Exchange (TEX), the premier industry networking event for high-bandwidth network operators, has exceeded preliminary sales goals for its New York City event and the event floor is already over 40% capacity. With predictions of this being the biggest industry participation yet for TEX NYC as sales have reach record numbers, you aren’t going to want to wait to secure your branding. Join companies like ADVA, Green House Data, Schneider Electric, Telco System and so many more at the summer event. For a list of all those already planning attend, click here. Early-bird rates end Friday, February 12th.

We will be hosting four roundtables at TEX and we can promise you will want to be there for them. Kicking off our first roundtable at 10:30 AM with the hot topic of The Arrival of Internet of Things (IoT): Connected Devices, Data Volume and Business Opportunities. Quickly followed by second roundtable of Fiber as an Investment – Addressing our Country’s Fiber Deficiency at 11:30. After lunch, we will taking on the topic of Wall Street’s Take on Communication Infrastructure Services roundtable at1 PM. Lastly, we will be ending the day with our What Tech Companies Need from Its Telecom Partners roundtable at 2 PM.

Interested in having your CEO join the discussion? Email [email protected] for exhibit and sponsorships details, as well as speaker submissions. And while we have your attention, please be sure to check out our new website (www.thetelecomexchange.com). We hope you LOVE it as much as we do.

Special Mentions:

As we prepare ourselves for a busy year of conferences, networking and making successful business connections, there is still plenty of time to make the most out of 2016. There is no better time than now to pull out those new 2016 calendar planners and mark the Top Telecom Events to attend for the year. Download our complete list here.

ROCKING YOUR 2016 MEETINGS AND EVENTS: JSA EVENTS TEAM GIVES INSIDE SCOOP ON 2016 TRENDS– As 2016 kicks off, our event planning experts at JSA want to share some hot trends to keep an eye out for at upcoming industry meetings and events. Check out the top 2016 trends.

New Year, New Website– Rediscover The Power of Your Brand with a Website Redesign. Click here to check out websites launched in the past 30 days. Let JSA help you. Contact our team at [email protected].

Career Opportunities

As we look to a new year of possibilities and potentially a new start, check out some of our client who are hiring. There just might be a new opportunity for you. Here is to 2016 – year of endless possibilities

DE-CIX‘s mission is to provide premium IX services to all IP networks and to ensure that the Internet runs securely and smoothly by providing IX services to all kinds of network operators and corporations with a unique Autonomous System (AS). Is IP networks and IX services your passion? If so, DE-CIX just might be the right place for you. Click here if interested in joining their team.

FirstLightoffers varied challenging and rewarding career opportunities. If you think you have the skills and experience necessary to make a meaningful contribution to FirstLight, they would love to hear from you. Learn more about their job openings.

GlobeNet is looking for talented professionals. The company is focused on creating opportunities for high-energy, self-motivated professionals with technical, general management, sales, and other professional skills. Interested in working with the GlobeNet team? Click here to learn how.

Hibernia Networksiscontinuously interested in talented individuals who want to progress their careers and make a difference to its business. Looking to join the Hibernia team? Check out their current career opportunities!

Searching the job market? Well, you are in luck! XKLis on the hunt for fearless leaders. With this forward-looking approach, XKL provides the solutions necessary for the future growth and development of the communications industry. XKL’s technical staff members are experts in their fields who are known to rewrite rules and test the unproven. Interested? Then check out the current job listings.

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As the Director of Digital Marketing, Shannon directly assists the company’s Director of Events with all of JSA’s industry networking events, including Telecom Exchange and Telecom One-on-One, all JSA and client virtual events, client customer, networking and team-building events and internal JSA company events.